Daniel Radcliffe Wants to Be a Young Dad

Even though the former Harry Potter star, 23, doesn’t know “when or who” he’ll have a baby with, he insists he “definitely” wants to have kids.

“I’d like to get started on it before my thirties,” he tells Time Out: London magazine in its issue coming out on June 4. “I like the idea of being a youngish parent so I’ve got energy to play football even though they’ll be better than me by the time they’re four.”

Speaking of football, Radcliffe says he’s “definitely going to be one of those parents who pushes their kids into things” – namely, sports, “not the film industry.”

Jokes the actor, “I will have to find a very tall wife if they’re going to be good at sports. You could be my size as a boxer, you’d just have to be a super featherweight or something.”

His desire to have children comes from what he witnessed during his upbringing.

“I’ve grown up around lots of people who were having kids when I knew them, because a lot of them were a lot older than me,” Radcliffe says. “And I saw the wonderful change in them. I see that it gives you a sense of purpose that up till now I only really get from work. I want that [purpose].”

“I am planning to get a couple of tattoos,” he said. “It’s going to sound really pretentious, but there’s a [Samuel] Beckett quote I really like which I’m going to get tattooed on me. ‘Try again, fail again, fail better.’ That’s what I’m about. I heard someone say growing up is about aiming to succeed, but being fulfilled by failing very well. I agree with that 100 percent.”